Gleyber Torres can be X-Factor for 2023 Yankees
Gleyber Torres entered the 2023 season with his New York Yankees future in doubt. Even his present day place on the roster was questioned by both legacy media members and those in the social media gallery.
His name was mentioned in trade rumors all offseason. Said rumors were reinforced when Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas all hit the injured list during Spring Training.
Instead of spending March at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Torres instead participated in the World Baseball Classic, competing with his country mates for Venezuela. The 26-year-old saw just 10 at-bats across three games, but the experience has given the former top prospect a newfound confidence.
Despite a small sample size, that confidence has been on full display in the Bronx.
Through five games this season, Torres is slashing an impressive .333/.524/.733, has struck out just twice in 15 at-bats after going down on strikes 129 times in 140 games in 2022, and is using the short porch in right field to his advantage. Torres seems more relaxed while living in the moment. He had a WBC-like celebration rounding the bases for his first home run on Opening Day and has been consistently seen in the dugout picking up his teammates.
"To throw a perfect night up there with the homer the other way and three walks, another base hit -- just really focused, quality at-bats by Gleyber and been right in the middle of a lot of things for us, but it's excited to see him playing the way he is,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the media after Monday night’s series opener against the Phillies.
He followed that up as the lone bright spot in a Yankees lineup that only reached base six times on Tuesday night. Torres accounted for two of those, registering a base hit and a walk in three at-bats.
Torres, of course, entered Major League Baseball as not only the top-ranked shortstop in the minors, but the future of the Baby Bombers, circa 2018.
The Yankees were ready to give Torres the green light on the heels of his ALCS performance in 2017. They shipped out incumbent second baseman Starlin Castro to accommodate Torres; it also helped that Castro helped bring Giancarlo Stanton to New York, setting the stage for a team expected to make multiple runs at a World Series.
The ultimate goal was not accomplished, but that had nothing to do with Torres.
Torres lived up to the prospect hype. He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and made the All-Star team. He translated that into his best season to date, posting career highs in batting average (.278), slugging percentage (.535), OPS (.871), home runs (38) and WAR (3.6), while dropping his strikeout rate from 25.2% to 21.4%. He split time between second base and shortstop, and while he looked most natural at second, defensive versatility only added to his value.
The following years, however, were a different story. Torres’ power was sapped, combining to hit just 36 home runs from 2020-22. He reached base at just a 32% clip. His strikeout numbers climbed while his walks plummeted. A full-time move to shortstop failed, and the emergence of DJ LeMahieu at second made Torres a defensive nomad.
At one point, Torres was pegged as a future mainstay in the middle of the Yankees lineup with a long-term deal in hand. Fast forward to the summer of 2022, and Torres was rumored to be headed to Miami in exchange for Pablo Lopez, a good-but-not-great starter for someone whose value had tanked.
The winter-turned-spring trade rumors never came to fruition. Torres has found himself playing both second base and as the designated hitter. He has laid off pitches out of the zone while putting together strong at-bats. His early season success was on full display on Monday night when he registered a home run, a single, two RBI and three walks in five plate appearances.
Statistics at this point of the season can only mean so much. But Torres has averaged 4.29 pitches per plate appearance, behind only Anthony Rizzo among everyday players. He’s been aggressive on the base paths – he has gone a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts. He’s hitting the ball to both center and right field at a high clip.
Torres is a big reason behind his team’s 4-2 start through six games as anyone else on the roster.
A trip to the WBC - a decision criticized by some - has added fuel to the fire. Spending full seasons with the likes of Aaron Judge, Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and LeMahieu doesn’t hurt, of course. But receiving new input from national teammates like Jose Altuve, Miguel Cabrera, Luis Arraez, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Salvador Perez, among others, very well could have been a breath of fresh advice, too.
"Those games are kind of like playoff games, because it's nothing about hitting many homers -- just be on base for the other guys," said Torres of his time in the WBC. "We faced really, really good pitchers there. That helped me a little bit to get on the process and also the 10 games I played during spring training ... just try to be in control and be patient, everything, when I go to home plate."
His newfound faith in his talents have been a boon to the 2023 Yankees.
It’s hard to say he’ll reach those levels from the first two years of his big- league career. His future in New York, even now, remains in question.
But this version of Gleyber Torres has all the makings of a bona fide x-factor for the 157 games remaining.
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